Subsections

Cases

Peter M. Hoffman, Coroner, Cook County, examines a hammer used to murder George Dietz, April 18, 1913

Hoffman (1863-1948) worked as a grocer and a railroad clerk before his election as Cook County Coroner in 1908. Indicted on corruption charges in 1925, he retired from politics the following year, after serving six months in jail.

Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society

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Coroner vs. medical examiner

Definitions

Medical examiner: An appointed medically qualified officer whose duty is to investigate deaths and bodily injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortems, and sometimes to initiate inquests.

Coroner: [related to Anglo-French corouner, from coroune, meaning crown]: An officer of a county, district, state, or municipality; originally, in medieval England, an official who upheld the monarch's rights of private property. From the 16th and 17th centuries on, the chief duty of the coroner was to hold inquests on the bodies of those believed to have died by violence or accident, or who suffered grievous bodily harm. In modern times, in the United States, the coroner is an elected official.

Coroner

Origin: England, 12th century; brought to North America in the 1600s

In Britain, either elected or appointed by the Crown, until 1888, when it was made appointive by local council. In the United States, an elected local official; runs for office, often as a member of a political party

Term of office (in the U.S.): two to four years

Qualifications: Citizenship, residence; no medical training required

Duties: To convene an inquest or inquisition with a jury, to investigate the death of a person

that occurred due to criminal violence, poisoning, suicide, accident, negligence, disease constituting a public health threat, or

that occurred unexpectedly, in suspicious circumstances, or

that occurred while that person was in government custody, undergoing a medical procedure, or unattended by a physician, or

whose body is to be cremated, dissected, or buried at sea

Medical examiner

Origin: France and Scotland; brought to the United States in the late 1800s

Appointed local or state official; expected to be nonpartisan

Term of office: Serves continuously; can only be removed for cause

Qualifications: Medical degree, with training and certification in forensic pathology

Duties: To officially investigate the death of a person

that occurred due to criminal violence, poisoning, suicide, accident, negligence, or disease constituting a public health threat, or

that occurred unexpectedly, in suspicious circumstances, or

that occurred while that person was in government custody, undergoing a medical procedure, or unattended by a physician, or